Regulation of electric utilities; development of renewable energy facilities; powers of State Air Pollution Control Board; powers of State Corporation Commission. Repeals provisions (i) requiring the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from any electricity generating unit in the Commonwealth and authorizing the Board to establish an auction program for energy allowances; (ii) prohibiting the State Corporation Commission from approving any new utility-owned generation facilities that emit carbon dioxide as a by-product of energy generation, in certain circumstances; (iii) declaring that statutory allowances for energy derived from sunlight, onshore wind, offshore wind, and storage facilities are in the public interest; and (iv) relating to the development of solar and wind generation and energy storage capacity, development of offshore wind capacity, and generation of electricity from renewable and zero-carbon sources. The bill provides that planning and development activities for new nuclear generation facilities are in the public interest.
Electrical generating facilities; capacity factor; report. Requires the owner of any electrical generating facility in the Commonwealth with a nameplate capacity of at least one megawatt to provide an annual report to the State Corporation Commission, including for each month of the immediately preceding year (i) the amount of electricity produced by such facility and (ii) the capacity factor, as defined in the bill, for such facility. The bill requires the Commission to compile all information reported pursuant to the bill's provisions and to publish an annual report of such compiled information.
Electric utilities; municipal and state power aggregation; State Corporation Commission. Permits municipalities to aggregate the electric energy load of residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers within its boundaries on an opt-in or opt-out basis if the retail electric customers are not already being served by a licensed supplier. The bill also requires the State Corporation Commission to promulgate rules as necessary to ensure that the provisions of the bill do not create an unreasonable shifting of costs to nonparticipating customers and to ensure that in all integrated resource plans and cost recovery proceedings no incumbent electric utility is improperly incorporating the loads of retail electric customers into its forecasts or load projections.
Board of Pharmacy; membership; emergency medical services agencies authorized to obtain controlled substance registration. Adds a career fire/emergency medical services (EMS) member and a volunteer fire/EMS member to the Board of Pharmacy for a total of 12 members. In addition, the bill directs the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations authorizing EMS agencies and regional EMS councils to obtain a controlled substance registration. The authorization allows an EMS agency or regional EMS council to receive controlled substances in Schedules II through VI from a wholesale distributor, manufacturer, third-party logistics provider, warehouse, or pharmacy. The bill also directs the Board of Pharmacy to promulgate regulations specifying a fire station with around the clock staffing is authorized to store controlled substances in a locked room with an access control device and camera monitoring system.
Retail electric energy; renewable energy certificates. Requires competitive service providers, as defined in the bill, to serve 100 percent of their customers' energy and capacity needs from electric generating units located within the PJM transmission region. Under the bill, a competitive service provider must ensure that 100 percent of its customers' energy is either zero-carbon electricity or matched with zero-carbon electricity or renewable energy certificates. A certain percentage of a retail customer's annual load must be matched with renewable energy certificates from within the PJM transmission region. The bill allows certain retail customers to be exempt from non-bypassable charges associated with the renewable energy portfolio standard. The bill also requires the State Corporation Commission to promulgate rules as necessary to ensure that the provisions of the bill do not create an unreasonable shifting of costs to nonparticipating customers and to ensure that in all integrated resource plans and cost recovery proceedings no incumbent electric utility is improperly incorporating the loads of retail electric customers into its forecasts or load projections.
Electric utilities; rate increases during certain months; biennial rate reviews. Provides that Appalachian Power Company shall not be required to file a case for fuel recovery in 2025 and that commencing in 2026, it shall make annual filings by January 15 with interim rates effective March 1 of each year. The bill prohibits certain rate adjustments from being applied during the months of November through February. The bill also changes from March 31 to April 30 the date on which biennial rate review proceedings shall commence each biennial review year, from November 20 to December 31 the date for final orders to be granted, and from no later than January 1 of the subsequent year to no later than March 1 of the subsequent year the date by which any rate revisions shall take effect.
Workers' compensation; presumption for certain cancers; sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. Expands the workers' compensation presumption of compensability for certain cancers causing the death or disability of certain employees who have completed five years of service in their position to include sheriffs or deputy sheriffs.
Workers' compensation; injuries caused by repetitive and sustained physical stressors. Provides that, for the purposes of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act, \"occupational disease\" includes injuries or diseases from conditions resulting from repetitive and sustained physical stressors, including repetitive and sustained motions, exertions, posture stresses, contact stresses, vibrations, or noises. The bill provides that such injuries or diseases are covered under the Act and that such coverage does not require that such repetitive or sustained physical stress occurred over a particular time period, provided that the time period over which such physical stress occurred can be reasonably identified.
Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2026, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2026, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Public schools; Virginia School Improvement Grant Program established; report. Establishes the Virginia School Improvement Grant Program (the Program) for the purpose of providing additional support to public schools identified based on their school performance score as "off track" or "needs intensive support," as those terms are defined by the bill, by awarding three-year grants to eligible schools for the development and implementation of school improvement plans. The bill (i) provides that the Department of Education shall be responsible for the administration of the Program and that the Office of School Improvement shall be responsible for the implementation and oversight of the Program; (ii) provides that any public school identified as "off track" or "needs intensive support" is eligible to apply for such three-year grant disbursed in annual installments; and (iii) permits any participating school that is identified as "off track" or "needs intensive support" for the school year coinciding with or subsequent to such participating school's final year in the three-year grant period to reapply for another grant pursuant to the Program. The bill requires any eligible school, in order to receive any grant funds pursuant to the Program, to develop and submit a school improvement plan or, in the case of a participating school receiving a grant upon reapplication pursuant to clause (iii), a revised school improvement plan outlining specific strategies for improving academic outcomes and addressing identified performance gaps for such school.
Board of Education; Standards of Learning assessments and related student assessment methods; assessment development, implementation, and administration reform. Modifies provisions relating to assessment methods for determining the level of achievement of the Standards of Learning objectives by all students, including (i) requirements relating to assessment administration aimed at maximizing instructional time and optimizing time used for assessment administration; (ii) criteria and guidelines for the structure and content of Standards of Learning assessments and alternative assessments developed by local school boards, including criteria for the types of assessment items that shall be included; (iii) provisions relating to eligibility and timelines for students to retake assessments; and (iv) the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments and related assessments, including a requirement that all such assessments be scored on a 100-point scale. The bill requires the Board of Education to provide any teacher who participates in the scoring of Standards of Learning assessments professional development points toward renewal of his license for the time spent scoring such assessments. The bill also requires the Board of Education to develop and make available to each school board certain templates and guidelines relating to assessment content and structure and assessment scoring.
Board of Education; programs of instruction; Safety First Comprehensive Drug Education Pilot Program established. Establishes the Safety First Comprehensive Drug Education Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department of Education, for the purpose of providing public school students scientifically accurate, interactive, and compassionate instruction relating to drugs by providing for the implementation of the Safety First: Comprehensive Drug Education and Intervention Curriculum developed by the Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford Medicine in each public secondary school located in Superintendent's Region 7. The bill requires the Department of Education to (i) coordinate with each school board that governs a school division located in Superintendent's Region 7 to implement such curriculum; (ii) develop guidelines to assist school boards, school administrators, and instructional personnel with the implementation of such curriculum in public secondary schools located in Superintendent's Region 7; and (iii) make available to each such school board any instructional materials, curriculum guidelines, or other resources developed by the Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab for the purpose of implementing and providing instruction based on such curriculum. Finally, the bill requires the Board of Education to amend its regulation relating to the provision of health education program instruction in drugs and drug abuse to require public schools to emphasize drug prevention, intervention, and harm reduction. The Program has a sunset date of July 1, 2027.
